1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charcoal briquette storage and dispensing device and more particularly to a cart for storing and dispensing charcoal briquettes where inherent charcoal briquette fines and dust are continuously screened and removed from the un-cracked charcoal briquettes stored within a storage bin member. The cart also includes a storage compartment member for storing barbequing utensils and materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional charcoal briquettes are packaged in heavy paper bags that are rather clumsy to transport and store and are subject to tearing and outside elements, especially rain. The shortfalls associated with the use of charcoal briquettes directly from the bag precipitated the development of various types of charcoal briquette storage devices which have become known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,447 to Tye, discloses a molded plastic container that has a compartment for storing charcoal briquettes, as well as additional compartments for storing various utensils and materials. One shortfall of this device is that the container can only store very small portions of briquettes and has very limited storage capacity of needed cooking utensils and materials.
Another and larger type of charcoal storage and dispensing device is U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,331 to Cohen, that comprises a large receiving member for storing the charcoal briquettes and a dispensing assembly for communicating the briquettes from the storage bin. This storage cart can store very large amounts of charcoal briquettes, which is favorable to the user, however, it has no provision for storing other items that are commonly used when barbequing, such as lighter fluid, matches, cooking utensils and cooking mitts, towels, etc. Furthermore, this device has no means to screen out the charcoal dust and fines that typically accumulate at the bottom of the storage bin area.
While these devices fulfill their respective objectives and requirements, there still exists a need for a charcoal briquette storage and dispensing system that has certain improved features which allow for the storage and dispensing of charcoal briquettes, but which provide for a continuous screening of charcoal briquettes fines and dust prior to the user dispensing briquettes from the storage member and using the “cleaned” briquettes.